Red in the Heart
by TheSealer
Summary: Continuation of 'Purple Beneath the Skin'. The story of Vince, Sierra and Jenny, three good-hearted young humans allied with the heroic and noble Decepticons. Transformers Prime: Shattered Glass (human-version)
1. Righteous Vince

**WARNING: **Before reading this, read '**Purple Beneath the Skin**'. If not, you won't understand this.

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><p><strong>Chapter 1:<strong> **Righteous Vince**

"Oh, yeah!" – Vince shouted out loud. He was driving the blue sports car through the roads of Nevada's desert. As with most near-adulthood teenagers, Vince liked to live it up and fast, just so long nobody got hurt in the process. He was nearing a dangerous Z curve, one which caution recommended a slowdown. But not for Vince.

"Here we go! This is what we have been training for."

He kept his high speed and prepared for the curve. At the last minute he turned and pressed the break, making it quickly, only missing the guardrails by inches and avoiding an accident slimly.

"HOOAAH!" – he cried out in victory.

"Nice one." – a jovial voice sounded from the car. – "You got me through the Z with no damage. You're improving."

"Thanks Knockout."

The blue sports car wore scratches all over coupled with a few dents. The medic/warrior Decepticon never cared much about his paint job. He took regular decontamination showers for the sake of hygiene. Knockout believed looks didn't matter, just so long it worked. And his belief applied to his own body. In fact, the medic took great pride in his war scars.

"Last time I had to intervene before you got us both scrapped."

Knockout had been a part-time medic, part-time racer before the war. His enjoyed the thrill of battle just as much as the thrill of a fight. But he always put his responsibilities as a doctor first. That's what put him as Vince's partner.

Hours later, the two were relaxing on the edge of the plateau by the road. Knockout still in his vehicle mode not to draw attention.

"Now that we got Soundwave back from the 'Bots it's smooth sailing." – Vince sighed. Yet his tone held a tone of tension. One that only someone who knew him well would pick up. Vince was usually carefree but not without his times of worry.

"What wrong, Vin?"

"It's just…" – Vince confessed. There was no point hiding anything from his partner. – "during the Soundwave's rescue on the Autobot base…"

"You mean the rescue mission you and Sierra snuck in?"

"Hey, I only went after her. She was worried sick about Wave." – the human protested. – "Anyways, I ran into Rafael."

Knockout's engine revved in aggravation, startling Vince a bit.

"That creature deserves to be squashed like the vermin he is! He and that pet scraplet of his!" – Knockout growled. When they rescued Soundwave, he had gone through Optimus' pounding without breaking. Rafael took charge of the interrogation next to try and 'open up' a dialogue with the prisoner. Rafael had his pet Scrapie dig holes all over the Decepticon Intelligence officer, while he watched with quiet sadism disguised as innocent glee. Whilst he didn't manage to make Soundwave break nor get anything vital from his processor, the 'Con was more dead than alive. It was a miracle that Knockout was able to save him.

"He said he was only sorry that Soundwave hadn't screamed a bit more. He just looked at me, like a kid asking for some candy, and said he enjoyed every second of his time with Soundwave."

When Knockout had stabled Soundwave on his med berth, he immediately cursed Optimus Prime and Ratchet. But then the patient mentioned Rafael had been the perpetrator and Knockout was stunned. The Decepticon medic had never harbored hill feelings for the small human. He even feared Rafael was force to serve the Autobots under some kind of threat. That all changed that moment.

Knockout was about to growl again at the mention of the sociopathic midget. In his book, Rafael Esquivel was no more different than an accursed Autobot. But he held back his anger at the last second; Vince wouldn't have told him that just to get him riled up now, would he?

"I met Rafael once before we met you guys. He was a loner at school. Even among his peers."

_Flashabck._

"Hey, pipsqueak, lemme see that." – a 15-year-old bully demanded prying the laptop from Rafael's hands.

"Hey, you pipsqueak, give him that back." – Vince approached the scene, standing a good head higher than the bully. The boy shrunk, handed back the laptop to Rafael and ran away.

"You okay kid?" – Vince approached him but Rafael stepped back.

"I'm fine, whatever." – he turned away from Vince with uncaring tone and left. No thanks.

_End of flashback._

"At first I thought he was just scared of big guys. I mean, I was taller than the bully picking on him." – Vince sighed. – "But I guess Rafael had always been a loner. Nobody appreciated his talents before so he joined someone who did and could exploit them. I used to feel sorry for the guy. Like he just joined the 'Bots because everyone else had ignored him. But not anymore."

"Yeah, I feel the same way." – Knockout commented. – "Where's the old, carefree Vince? You're sounding a bit too psychological."

"Hanging out with Sierra can do that to a guy."

"Funny, I always had the impression you two did a lot more than just 'hang out'." – Knockout chuckled which obviously disturbed Vince.

"Hey, don't read stuff that's not there!"

Knockout chuckled at his reaction. Vince always went defensive when this subject was pulled.

"You know, back on Cybertron I was regarded as a…what's the human term? Ladiesman?" – he shrugged. – "Anyways, I had a way with most ladies. I still do. I can give you some tips."

"Oh, yeah Mister Ladiesman? Then why doesn't Airachnid gives you the time of day?" – Vince retorted but Knockout didn't go defensive at all. In the beginning after Airachnid landed on Earth, Knockout made several failed attempts to get her attention. When it became obvious she was out of his league, he gave up.

"Well, nobody's perfect. I'm not infallible. But it's true that I know about femmes. Just ask Breakdown."

"Whatever, dude." – he sighed. Knockout kneeled to be eye-to-eye with Vince:

"Look, I'm no sap but anyone can see you and Sierra are dancing around in circles. If you just let me help you out, you two might finally get somewhere."

A pause followed while Vince let that sink in. Truth was, for such a carefree, go-with-the-flow adolescent, Vince was scared and worried about messing things up with Sierra. They were in a non-official dating relationship – at least that's what Vince likes to call it. None of them had announced they were a couple, so Vince was having cold feet. If he did something she didn't like, it would be over. So he made no further move. Besides 'hanging out', they did nothing more.

"Ok, doctor. I'm all ears." – he nodded half-reluctantly. Knockout gave a victorious grin:

"Don't worry, cowboy. Soon, you and your sweetspark will be exchanging saliva. And I won't be watching you doing it."

"What?" – Vince asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"I said I won't be watching you doing it."

"Yeah, I know. But why did you say that, Knockout?"

"Just in case you assumed I would be watching you guys kissing." – Knockout shrugged.

"Why would I assume that?" – Vince became even more confused.

"Just because."

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><p>This final was a bit of an awkward scene, I know. Just wanted to add it. But I assure you, SG Knockout is no voyeur.<p> 


	2. Prime Sierra

**WARNING: **Before reading this, read'**Purple Beneath the Skin**'. If not, you won't understand this.

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><p><strong>Chapter 2:<strong> **Prime Sierra**

"Wowa! Easy girl." – Soundwave waved his hands at the approaching Sierra.

"What did Knockout tell you?" – she demanded with an edge on her voice. It was rather hard to imagine a giant, sentient, thousands-year-old robot feeling afraid of an ordinary human teenage girl advancing on him. Sierra had just caught Soundwave sneaking out of the medbay he was confined to. – "You're to recharge for the next 48 hours to recover."

"Come on, Sier. That's bogus!"

"That's doctor's orders." – she countered sharply. While Sierra kept her voice calm and soft, the seriousness behind it was palpable. Soundwave had learnt long ago not to get on the young female's bad side. – "It's for your own good."

"But I'm fine now. Ready to kick and boot agai…Ouch!" – Soundwave made a stretch gesture to prove so, only to feel a sharp pain in his chest plates.

"See what I mean?" – she frowned. – "Now go back to bed."

"Alright, I'm going." – Soundwave muttered with shoulders low in defeat.

"And _stay_ in bed." – she put extra emphasis on the word before walking away. Soundwave threw a retort before powering down.

"And you have fun imagining making out with Vince, _gaiata_." – Sierra looked abruptly at him to retaliate but stopping in the last second. Not only was childish but Soundwave was already in recharge.

She walked in the railings the 'Cons had built all over the corridors of the Nemesis so that their Human charges could walk freely with no danger of being squashed. Sierra passed a few Vehicons on her way to the landing strip.

The Nemesis was high in the clouds and away from prying eyes. The wind blew with force but Sierra didn't mind. She needed some alone time to deal with recent events. The solitude of the landing trip would be good enough.

Then she spotted the towering figure of Megatron at the edge. He too had come here to meditate. She moved to the opposite direction, not wanting to disturb the former gladiator nor to be disturbed herself.

"Sierra, how is Soundwave?" – Megatron's deep but calm voice inquired, his back still turned to her.

"Trying to escape the medbay but I persuaded him otherwise." – she replied with half-humor. Megatron just nodded which pulled Sierra's interest. The Decepticon was obviously musing about something. Possibly about the recent events that transpired. During the assault on the Autobot base to rescue Soundwave Megatron had engaged Optimus Prime. Sierra had deduced something happened to disturbed the leader. Something he had learnt or seen during the fight…

"What's wrong, Megatron?" – she decided to cut to the chase. While Sierra wasn't one to pry into others' thoughts but the titan was clearly bothered by something. – "What's eating you?"

Megatron gazed at the clouds for a full minute before replying.

"For eons I had maintained hope that _he_ could still be saved from himself. That Orion Pax still existed in the corrupted spark of Optimus Prime." – Sierra knew where that came from. Starscream and Soundwave had once told of story of how the War for Cybertron began. The tale of the gladiator Megatronus and the archivist Orion Pax. – "Recently, I have been learning different. The division between Decepticons and Autobots will never be over while Optimus Prime lives."

Megatron had sometimes hesitated when he had been presented with a chance to waste Optimus for good. Sierra had always assumed he still clang to the idea that Optimus could have a change of heart. The human charges, like all the other 'Cons, were dubious about it.

Then it occurred to Sierra that none of the other 'Cons had known Optimus as Orion before the war. Only Megatron knew his old self. Sierra thought of Miko, who unlike sociopathic Rafael and demonic Jack, wasn't quite evil. She was just…terribly sick. There were people who said Optimus Prime was insane. So what if the leader of the Autobots was sick, just like Miko? Was that what pushed Megatron to spare Optimus in previous encounters?

These questions died unanswered as Megatron finally looked at her. His blue optics like scanning her brain and reading her thoughts.

"Though I feel I'm not the only one who had a changing experience that day."

Sierra gazed at the clouds and relented.

"Yeah I too had a bit of an experience in the Ark." – she relived the events during the rescue mission.

_Flashback._

"Careful Vince." – Sierra growled.

"I told you this was a great idea." – Vince retorted. Right now the Decepticons were infiltrating the Ark in different points and the Autobots were scattering to fight off the intruders. Vince had the last-minute plan to come along. They knew Soundwave was being held in Ratchet's medbay. And the Ark had some walkways and entrances for the few places where Rafael, Miko and Jack were allowed to walk in.

Vince thought of using these to gain easy entrance into the Doctor of Doom's work chamber and convinced the Vehicons to open a bridge for him. But Sierra had to go after him; he just wasn't careful enough. Jenny used to tease them both saying:

"_Vince doesn't worry enough but Sierra worries too much. That's a perfect couple!_"

**(A.N.: Jenny is the unnamed friend of Sierra from the cartoon.)**

"They don't even have any locks." – Vince snickered. The human-sized walkways were poorly built and had no locked doors.

"These are not safe." – Sierra noted the construction they were standing on wasn't very solid. – "Obviously the Autobots didn't consider humans worth putting any effort in this construction."

"Good for us." – Vince pulled the metal door open slowly. He peeked and saw no Bot on the medbay. – "The coast is clear. Doctor FrankenDoomstein is out. I can see Soundwave."

Vince inched the heavy door open enough for them to pass. But after he crossed the threshold, it shut immediately before Sierra could pass.

"Hey, what gives?" – Vince tried to slam it open from the other side while Sierra pulled from her side.

"Guess they do have locks." – Sierra muttered after failing to open.

"Don't panic, Sier." – Vince talked through the metal door. – "I'll wake up Soundwave. He can get us out of here."

Sierra stepped away from the door and leaned against a crevice. She didn't want to be seen by any passing 'Bot. But she forgot to account for some other occupants of the Ark.

"Hello!" – the voice was quickly followed by a kick in the jaw. Sierra fell hardly on the metal floor, her face sore and mouth bleeding. Towering above her stood Jack Darby, Jasper's notorious petty criminal, Satanist and accused of rape. – "Long time no see, Sierra."

"Shouldn't you be out violating little girls?" – she retorted with fearless venom.

"I was." – in less than a second, he was on top of her. Any girl would be paralyzed in fear. Unable to do anything but beg and cry out. Just as every other victim of Jack Darby had been.

But not Sierra.

In a flash-speed movement, she kicked him in the stomach and stood up ready for a fight. Jack also got himself back on his feet. He didn't show any sign of pain, though. In fact, his smirk was now so wide it could split his head in two.

"Nice one."

"Three years of karate." – she spat, ready to fight back. – "And two years of jujutsu."

"And, sadly, zero years of cheerleading." – Jack mocked which he knew it would aggravate Sierra. And it did.

"Shut up! I hate cheerleading almost as much as I hate you!"

"You have spirit to make a worthy vessel. He would be interested in you." – he suddenly eyed her intrigued to which she frowned in puzzlement.

"What are you talking about?"

"You'll find out when the time is right." – and then, just then, she could have sworn Jack's eyes adopted a malevolent purple glint. When she blank to make sure she saw properly, Jack had vanished.

_End of flashback._

"I never told Vince or anyone about that." – Sierra sighed. – "I didn't think it was important, but…there was always something about Jack that made me nervous. Something about him…is just wrong."

"I have mused over the same question for some time." – Megatron confessed. – "You recall that day when you, Starscream and I were trapped in a cave in?"

"Yeah, we were looking for remnants of energon."

**(A.N.: Season 1 episode 19 'Rock Bottom')**

"Jack found me buried in the rubble. Within him, I had felt the presence of Unicron."

Sierra took him a small gasp, barely audible in the wind.

"As I remember I sensed a dark and powerful entity in him. Only later when Unicron began to awaken I recognized it as the Chaos Bringer himself."

Sierra just moaned uncomfortable:

"Seems like every time we have good news we get something else to worry about. And I thought Optimus having the Star Saber was bad enough. Feels like we're the only ones with frowns when the rest of the Nemesis is cheerful about the future."

Soundwave's successful rescue had brought a bit of light into the Decepticons, after the loss of the Star Saber. The balance of power was still in the Autobot's favor but there was hope. Sierra however considered the long-term vision, seeing that any future victories they could have would be severely limited if Prime employed the Star Saber in battle, as she knew he would.

"Leaders always have the responsibility to gaze into the far future. It is a burden you and I have." – Megatron spoke with an emotion she couldn't quite place. Though something else got her attention.

"I don't consider myself a leader." – she rebutted.

"But you do have the qualities of one." – Megatron said with a slight smile.

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><p>I'll be doing Jenny's chapter next. Sorry this was a bit rushed. In the series, <strong>Sierra<strong> always seemed like the kind of girl who has the looks and nothing else, sometimes going as far as doing illegal stuff. So why not making her the **honorary Prime** of Shattered Glass. Trained in martial arts, responsible like** canon Jack** and not engaging in the snob-girl-type activities.


	3. Pragmatic Jenny

**WARNING: **Before reading this, read'**Purple Beneath the Skin**'. If not, you won't understand this.

This happens two weeks after Soundwave's rescue.

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><p><strong>Chapter 3:<strong> **Pragmatic Jenny**

"This wasn't what I had in mind for the weekend." – the blue-eyed, blond girl named Jenny.

That morning, Soundwave had picked up a space-bridge portal opening. The energy spike had erupted from a deep abandoned Autobot strip mine. Apparently one unknown cybertronian had used it to travel to Earth. Starscream and Airachnid had been dispatched to investigate. Since it wasn't anything considered risky and Airachnid was Jenny's partner, the youngest human charge went along.

Of course she forgot to have in account that strip mines are often unstable because of the abused internal structure. A cave in happened and Jenny found herself separated from her partner and the seeker. And in a twist, she found the unknown cybertronian, the strangest Decepticon she had ever seen until today. Not because of his bulky and gold-worn chassis. Nor exactly because of the large canon that was his left arm. The source of his strangeness was the one big, blue optic that made up the 'Con's face.

"So…you're the 'Con that got here through the space bridge we picked up?" – she asked, not showing fear, thought she did feel a bit at the unexpressive face. This guy looked more alien than any 'Con or 'Bot she had ever seen.

"Yes." – he answered simply.

"How did you get here?"

"The same way you got here, little one: I was born."

"What? No!" – she shook her head. – "I mean…how did you got down here? Couldn't you have opened a space bridge somewhere not surrounded by rock?"

"No. My bridge was unstable and locking on fixed coordinates was impossible. I had to take the risk. It was the only way to get to this planet." – the 'Con spoke while sitting himself heavily in a giant boulder.

"Well, good thing you're here. We have been losing big time since Optimus slaggin' Prime got the Star Saber." – Jenny asked while looking around for a good place to start digging through the rubble. – "So what's your name?"

"Why do you want to know?" – his question drew her to glare at him. – "What's does it matter what label I have? If you knew my name, would that do you any good? If I tell you my name is Shockwave, would it help you in your stubborn search for a way to escape here?"

Jenny just stared at the cyclops, her mouth opened in growing confusion. Shockwave took her silence as a 'no'.

"Exactly. You knowing my name changes just as much as it would me knowing yours. Names are just words." – then he halted and tilted his head as having a second thought. – "Although words, like actions, do have power. Words have effect which can change the Universe around us. The Ancients said the Universe itself began with a word. So, does that mean that the Universe is the creation, the effect, of a word? If so, what was this primeval word with such grand and powerful effect, that created the Universe and everything in it?"

He looked at Jenny as if expecting her to voice her thoughts on his theory. The girl mouth kept opening more and more as he had made that speech. By now, Jenny's jaw was fully open and her eyes opened in complete disbelief.

"What the #$%!? We're trapped in a cave and you break in a philosophical bull-crap debate?! What's the friggin' point?"

"Yes…what's the point indeed?" – he spoke with an emotion she couldn't place. A mix of wonder and nostalgia. Growling, she went back to her endeavor.

"Why do you keep pushing yourself to get out of here, little one?"

"Because first priority of a prisoner is escape." – she retorted. Shockwave hummed in interest.

"So, if one is a prisoner of joy, must one escape to sadness? If one is a prisoner of love, must one escape to hate?"

His quiz made her halt for just a second and resumed her work.

"You know, you're a giant robot. You could give a hand."

"There is no need for hurry. Nothing lasts forever, little one. Imprisonment is no exception. Soon or later we will be free again."

"Yeah, thanks for that Cyclops!" – she continued to pick up and push rocks until a small rockslide forced her to back away.

"Damn, this is impossible!" – Jenny growled.

"The rubble is too unstable. And the more you exhaust yourself, the more oxygen you'll consume. All more reasons for you to stop your endeavors." – Shockwave remarked. She walked away from her spot and sat down close to the 'Con. She was transpiring but not breathless, meaning she's probably used to manual labor. Yet, Shockwave was more surprised by how easily she relented. – "I must admit I did not expect you to heed my advice so easily, this time."

"It's the logical choice. If I'm wasting air only to cause a rockslide, might as well think of another plan." – she gave him an odd look. – What, you thought I was only doing that to prove you wrong? I'm not sore about that. I'm just practical like Airachnid."

"Airachnid is here?" – he asked curiously.

"Yeah, she's my partner." – at Shockwave's silence, she elaborated. – "Because the 'Bots associated me and my friends with the 'Cons, Megatron assigned three of them to be our guardians. Knockout is Vince's partner and Soundwave is Sierra's."

"I see. And I don't suppose Airachnid was with you in this mission."

"Of course she was."

"Then there is no worry. Airachnid can easily burrow her way out of here. We just need to wait for her to find us." – Shockwave said. – "You see now, little one. There's no need for action when the Universe can attend to matters by itself."

"Whatever." – she scoffed. – "By the way, I have a name so you don't have to call me 'little one' like I'm some delicate princess."

"I do not know your name. And don't forget what I told about names: they have effect that changes the Universe. Always consider before you announce your label."

"Oh, this is gonna be a long wait for a rescue." – Jenny sighed.

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><p>By now my readers already understand that I'm loosing interest in this. Fortunately it's over. It's awesome to write about evil versions of main characters, that's why <strong>Purple Beneath the Skin<strong> was a success. But writing about good version of simple antagonistic minor characters…it's just lame.

Anyways, I intended to present Jenny as an independent girl who knows how to look out for herself, contrarily to her cannon version that is always tailing cannon Sierra. **Jenny** also admired **SG Sierra** but followed her example of pulling her own weight. I intended to explore her relation with **Airachnid** but a conversation with Shockwave intrigued me. So I made **Shockwave's** philosophies collide with hers.


End file.
